Paul Shipton

The Ransom of Red Chief is by far my favorite short story by O. Henry. Sam tells how he and Bill Driscoll needed cash to put together a fraudulent land scheme they had planned for West Illinois, but they had only $600 and needed $2000 more to pull it off. So, while stopping in Summit, Alabama, Sam convinces Bill that this town of “undeleterious” country bumpkins, where self-satisfaction breeds “philoprogenitiveness”, would surely be easy pickings for his kidnapping scheme. Poor Bill. show more The red-headed son of the town’s biggest penny-pincher is whisked away by the pair and a day later Sam writes up a kidnapper’s ransom note signed “TWO DESPERATE MEN” - I’m pretty sure that O. Henry intended the double-entendre.

Having raised four children (all born within five years), I declare that there was never a dull moment in our house when they were little. Our mischievous little red-headed son ran circles around all of us. OH BOY, was he a handful! So, in the case of TRORC, I can tell you that I relished in the irony of the kidnapping, and greatly admired the ability of Red Chief’s parents to turn the tables to their advantage.

That is all I’m going to say about this hilarious little tale - if you’ve never read it you can find this short (16 page) story all over the internet or at the link below:

https://dwcaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Henry_Red_Chief.pdf show less

This all started for me when I read Christopher Moore’s page-turner “Noir” . It mentions this story, by O. Henry, as it relates to a plot point in the book. I read the short story by O. Henry and liked it very much! This version is a comic book like interpretation of that short story, and it is not as good. It gets the overall general point of the story, that is, a kidnapping gone wrong, actually, a kidnapping sort of in reverse! But this version doesn't quite capture the humor of O. show more Henry's original, which is quite a chuckle. Still, I'm grateful to Moore for setting me along this path, and I'm glad I read it! show less

Mr. Bean wins a trip to Cannes where he unwittingly separates a young boy from his father and must help the two reunite. On the way he discovers France, bicycling, and true love.

Has some childish humor, like it should because this book is geared for 10-14 year olds, but a good read. I know just a little more about Greek mythology now.